Outcast Doughnuts — Restaurant in Mesa

Limited to Drip coffee, Latte, and a 'Beignet.' It is NOT beignet as I know them (a deep fried dough pillow). We were told that they are made with croissant dough, layered, dusted w/ ultrafine sugar. I agree, they are NOT beignet, but boy are these good. They gave us a knife, but they don't like being cut, or at least sawn, the layers may flake apart. Fluffy light layers, a minor crunch, don't inhale the sugar. Impressive. This is the sort of thing you coukd compress, fold, and stick it in your mouth at one go. Chewing it would be unfortunate unless you were twelve. Shades of my Boy Scout era activities. VERY clean, sparkly manufactured stone countertop (we are near a remodel ourselves). Hot pink couches and metal stools. Looks like 6 taps, beers and a cider, perhaps, one 'alley gas' nitro-pour. Some spirits in evidence. Coffee is meh. Maybe I should say, 'dry.' It is perfect if you want people raving about the food, not the coffee. Very balanced, mellow-ish roast, acid-free, short finish. The wife likes her latte.

Glad we stopped.

Oh, yeah... doughnuts. A decent length reflective display case doesn't allow stelkar photos, and has been savaged by 10a.m. on a Sunday. A schload of very clever variations on the theme, including them sliced in half like their Short Bread. Many dressed in a dark dark chocolate glaze. One cruller. No naked doughtnuts a la Old Fashioned. Definitely the formally dressed version of fried...

Frankly, Outcast Donuts was one of the most overhyped and underwhelming experiences What truly made this visit unforgettable (and not in a good way) was the staff. It's one thing to not be overly friendly – not every day is a great day, after all. However, the workers at this establishment seem to have taken "rude" as their primary customer service approach. A smile was harder to find than a reasonably priced donut.

What truly solidified my opinion was witnessing a particularly egregious incident. A single mother briefly stepped away with her two children to use the restroom. In her short absence, one of the employees threw away her donut. Mistakes happen, but the response was what shocked me. When the mother returned to find her treat in the trash, not only was there no apology, but the worker had the audacity to blame the mother for the mistake, pointing fingers at her need to take her kids to the bathroom! No replacement, no remorse, just sheer insensitivity.

If you're looking for overpriced donuts served with a side of disrespect, then Outcast Donuts might just be your spot. Otherwise, steer clear. There are plenty of other establishments that deserve your hard-earned money and will treat you with...

Looks aren’t everything! But in this case, it’s the only thing appealing about these Cronuts. I decided to visit a second time after the first was such a big disappointment. And I tried a Chorizo breakfast sandwich with a coffee. If it wasn’t for the excellent coffee and yummy chorizo patty, the second trip would have been just as bad. Their flavors are excellent! What they put them on leaves much to be desired. The real issue is the taste, feel and texture of the cronut itself. Because of the layers of dough, it looks and taste like it just soaked up far to much oil before the dough started to cook properly. So it’s layers of oily dough with imaginative toppings. The worst was the glazed. Like a mouth full of sweetened congealed oil. If they get their frying process right, these could be some excellent treats. If it happens, I would love to try them again. The strawberry one my granddaughter had was so tasty. If it wasn’t for the coffee I would have rated them lower. The fancy box and enjoyable staff, can’t make up for the bad cronuts and excessive price. I look forward to a future with better Cronuts from them that will...